MICROSOFT EDGE to receive independent updates from WINDOWS 10

Online report indicates that Microsoft Edge will begin to receive feature updates through the Windows Store this autumn in a move to save the browser from shrinking share prices.

On Monday, Rich Woods of Neowin, cited a source at Microsoft as saying “Users will finally be able to get updates to the Edge browser via the Windows Store, which will allow Microsoft to add new features more frequently,”

Like Internet Explorer before it, Edge has been receiving monthly security updates to patch vulnerabilities. There have been 4 full versions of Edge since its launch in July 2015, and each one has corresponded to when the operating system itself was upgraded. The most recent iteration is April 2017’s version 15. Woods went on to say that the change is expected to come about this September, which coincides with the next Windows 10 feature upgrade.

It’s not yet clear if the browser will continue to be bundled with Windows 10 feature upgrades or the Windows Store (the only legitimate store that offers “Universal Windows Platform updates) will be the sole source of Edge updates.

Businesses using Windows 10 Enterprise can lock their users out of the Windows Store to restrict what runs on company PCs, which may pose a problem if Edge updates are only available from the Windows Store. Firms looking for a more stable environment and are willing to consider Edge may balk at the frequent Edge feature updates.

While making Edge updates available from the Windows store might play to the consumers who cherish change, and the same number of refresh opportunities as Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox, the as frequent as every six weeks updates may well be precisely what corporations would like to avoid. This could be easily solved by making the updates optional and sticking to the previously pledged twice-annual Windows 10 & Edge updates for businesses.

After almost two years, Microsoft has failed to convince customers to widely adopt their new primary browser, even after Internet Explorer was downgraded to receiving no new features and only security updates. Despite promoting Edge as a legitimate rival to their established competitors, Edge has not yet won over a majority of Windows 10 Users. In fact, Edge’s share has been on the decline since its initial debut. According to analytics vendor Net Applications a scarce 1 in 5 Windows 10 users was using the browser, as shares fell to a record low of 21%.

While most Enterprises have yet to launch migrations over to Windows 10, there’s little motivation to IT administrators to inflict yet another change on employees by also switching them over from chrome to Edge.

Fifth Generation – 5G is on its way….

Most phones on the market are running 3G and 4G. The 5G wireless network is expected to roll out in early 2020, and an increasing number of businesses are already investing to prepare for the new mobile wireless network.

5G (Fifth Generation) according to the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA), to qualify for a 5G a connection should meet with most of these eight criteria:

One to 10Gbps connections to end points in the field

One millisecond end-to-end round trip delay

1000x bandwidth per unit area

10 to 100x number of connected devices

(Perception of) 99.999 percent availability

(Perception of) 100 percent coverage

90 percent reduction in network energy usage

Up to ten-year battery life for low power, machine-type devices

Mobile wireless generations gave us the following features:

1G gave us our first phone calls

2G gave us text messaging

3G gave us reliable internet access and email

4G gave greater speeds for smart phones and Applications

5G will give us speed and capacity for a more rapid arrival of everything we need.

What are the advantages of 5G

5G will be significantly faster than 4G and allow for higher productivity across all supported devices and of with greater bandwidth comes faster download times and the ability to run more complex mobile internet apps.

Currently 5G is still being developed and is not in use, however there are a companies that are already creating 5G products. These companies include BT, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung and Ericsson, with a growing number of companies forming 5G partnerships and investing in further research.

According to a report published today by the Parliamentary group “The Science and Technology Committee” there is still a huge number of UK residents without computer skills and this digital skills gap is costing the UK economy £63 billion a year in lost GDP.

Report findings

12.6 million adults in the UK lack basic digital skills; 5.8 million people have never used the internet; only 35% of computer teachers in schools have a relevant degree and 30% of the required number of computer science teachers have not been recruited; and 13% of computer graduates are still unemployed 6 months after leaving university.

Science and Technology Committee Chair, Nicola Blackwood MP said:

“The UK leads Europe on tech, but we need to take concerted action to avoid falling behind. We need to make sure tomorrow’s workforce is leaving school or university with the digital skills that employers need”

The report also calls on the government to put “digital skills at the heart of modern apprenticeships”

Where to Learn?

If you feel that your own skills are somewhat lacking or that you are falling behind the times where should you go? Most local authorities publish computer courses and there are numerous types of online tuition available. The BBC for example has a whole section on its website devoted to upgrading the computer literacy of the nation. The National Careers Service too has lists of relevant courses.